“Concrete curing compounds” are commonly applied to freshly poured concrete to retard evaporation of water, thereby enhancing the concrete's compressive strength and other key physical characteristics once cured. U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,847, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a concrete curing compound comprising an aqueous emulsion of a styrene and/or acrylic polymer to which a polysaccharide has been added to male the barrier film produced by the emulsion removable. Although this patent indicates these barrier films can be removed by abrasion in the presence of water only, the detailed description shows that, as a practical matter, an enzyme for the polysaccharide must be included not only in the coating composition itself but also in the wash water used for the removal process.